Boeing and Nasa are confident the craft can return, but they are being kept in orbit to conduct more tests on why the problems keep occurring. Stitch said the team wanted to “make sure we’re really ready to come home”. Nappi, of Boeing, told journalists on Tuesday: “We have a good, safe spacecraft.”
Adlard, of Gravitilab, said the issues sounded “fixable”, adding that some problems may have emerged as components “perform differently in the absence of gravity”.
Chris Welch, a consultant and former professor of space engineering at the International Space University in Strasbourg, said: “All these components are like links in a chain that all have to work in synchrony.
“Valves in particular are very little, fiddly things that have to operate very precisely, under a wide temperature range and under challenging conditions.
“You can simulate them as much as you’d like, but you can never really be sure how they are going to work until you actually put them out in the field.”
Should Starliner experience further delays, the ISS has months’ worth of food supplies, while the craft can remain docked for up to 45 days.
While helium has been gradually leaking out of the craft, it still has enough for 70 hours of flight – and it only needs seven to make it home.
Nasa, at least, insists its astronauts have confidence in Boeing’s craft, with hopes that its next flight can go ahead early 2025. “You can tell every time they get in the vehicle,” said Stitch on a call with reporters, “they love Starliner.”
Dr. Thomas Hughes is a UK-based scientist and science communicator who makes complex topics accessible to readers. His articles explore breakthroughs in various scientific disciplines, from space exploration to cutting-edge research.
